URSULINE SISTERS OF TILDONK RANCHI INDIA
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URSULINE SISTERS OF TILDONK RANCHI INDIA |
"I Have come, that they may have life; and have it to the full." (Jn. 10:10)
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Social Action "Asha
Kiran" (A Ray of Hope) Asha Kiran is a project to provide a home for the very poor homeless children/girls/women of Jharkhand. It is to give shelter for those who have no help from anywhere, whose desperate needs of livelihood force them to migrate to big cities. There are many illiterate, unskilled, homeless and dropout girls from schools who have no shelter, no security, no future. There is no such center in Ranchi to give shelter to such girls/women. This is a great need of today. Our
objective is to help the poor tribal girls to get education, health care
and vocational training to make them skilled and ultimately to help them
stand on their own feet and earn their living respectfully. Thus we want
to uplift the less fortunate and to give them motivation and job
orientation. This will provide them opportunities for employment and make
them self-supporting. We also want to stop trafficking of girls and child
domestic workers. Domestic Workers’ Movement: Sponsored by the Domestic Workers’ Movement Mumbai and in collaboration with the I.C.M. Sisters we are working in Delhi, Patna and Ranchi for the well-being of the Domestic Workers. The Movement is working especially to give them equal status as other State employees. Often from the remote villages girls are brought to town by brokers who allure them of giving jobs and then sell them in big cities or employ them as house - maids and collect their monthly wages for themselves. Girls and their families don't receive anything. Asha Kiran aims to stop this exploitation of girls as unpaid or under-paid domestic workers. Even now illiterate men and women of Jharkhand go to other states to work in Kiln for making bricks. But even the girls from schools and colleges with a desire to earn money are running away to big cities where they suffer from atrocities of their masters and mistresses. For their hard work they get so little amount that they cannot live like human beings. This is the
condition of many working girls/women. They do not only get less money but
also scolding, beating, rough treatment and inhuman behaviour. There is no
question of having a poor self-esteem, they just don't have any
self-esteem. They have not spoken yet. There is no one to listen to them,
neither the Government, nor any union, nor any power. Could the Government
someday fix the rate of salary for the domestic workers as it does for all
others? This movement is working to stop the simple girls from going to
Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Goa etc. Works against Human Trafficking: Superstition is another evil that exists in the villages of Jharkhand. Certain women are branded as witches and they are treated inhumanly, persecuted and finally killed. They suffer this injustice due to lack of education. Rape and sex abuse is almost a daily affair. It looks as though women have no dignity specially those working as house - maids. Their masters use them as mere objects of their passion. Many poor working girls die at the time of delivery or while committing abortion and if the child is alive they are not accepted in their homes and villages. As outcasts they are forced to go back again to where they do not know ! Such women need a shelter like Asha Kiran. However much the women leaders and the Police are trying to stop trafficking of the girls to big cities, it continues. The reason of all this is: no money, hunger, drinking of the male members and dependence of the family on the girl child. In the last ten years 13000 working girls are registered only in Bombay and there are many more not counted yet. How many more may be in Kolkata, Chennai, Patna, Delhi etc. Women do
undergo a lot of assault, physical pain, mental torture, psychological
depression and moral degradation. They are the marginalized, oppressed,
suppressed and silent sufferers of the society. They cannot fight for
their own rights. They do not even know that they have human rights! Apna Ghar (Home for the Aged):
Our nurses and health workers in Hesag also take care of the inmates of Angela Home which shelters the ageing and physically weak women.
Orphanages The Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk have mothered many a child in need of mothers. From the very beginning in the Red Lodge at Ranchi, there were orphans among the boarders. When the Daughters of the Cross left Chaibasa for Kesramal 19 children were brought to Khunti for adoption. One of these called "URSU" was baptized and called Ursula. Later she joined the Ursuline Congregation. This was dear Sister Renelde, a most loving, generous, kind and gentle person, a gem known to many. In the year of famine in 1918 more orphans were brought 32 orphans to Khunti. In the Sadar Hospital also Sisters could not but care for the babies and orphans. Mother Sophie Smets has been very loving and dedicated to these little ones. Mother Anthony, Mother Sophie, Mother Norberte, Mother Valerie, Mother Godelieve, Mother Pauline, just to mention a few among the Belgian missionaries and many other Indians like Mother Celestine, Mother Renelde, Mother Gabriella who followed were all love incarnate. Children sick, motherless, unwanted and uncared for have always received a home in all the Ursuline Convents. They found a real home and were brought up in a family atmosphere. It was quite touching and edifying to see them being brought together to the Chapel daily to pray to God and thank Him for all His blessings. They were taught to pray for the needs of the world, for the intentions of the authorities in the Church and the country, also for those sick and suffering and in need. In this way they were brought up in the knowledge, love and fear of God. After their studies they were settled in life and are doing well, remaining very grateful to the Sisters. The Convent is their "Mother's Home". Occasionally they enjoy the visit with grand and great grand children; a real joy indeed to see them happy in life. The Lace School-(Workroom) The origin of lace work goes back to the XIVthe and XVthe centuries in Europe. Thanks to the quality of the linen used by its makers. Flemish lace quickly became famous far beyond Flanders. The most original of the efforts of the Ursuline Missionaries was the creation of a "Lace School" along with education. The social condition of the women of Chota Nagpur had especially occupied the attention of Mother Gonzaga, since her arrival at Ranchi. "To bear heavy burdens, to cut grass and sell it in the villages and to do manual labours were the only ways open to women for earning their bread. Is it not possible to devise for them a less degrading occupation which would shield them from the dangers which threatened their faith and morals, and relieve them from the penury they endured?" Mother Anthony therefore, lent a ready ear to the plan of Frs. Francken and Vandale for the foundation of a lace school at Khunti. This scheme was set on foot in 1905 and in July 1906. The workshop at Ranchi was opened, with five pupils. They worked on the verandah of the convent under the able guidance of Mother Ursula, who was an expert at lace-making. The aim was to provide the poor, married women with the means of earning a livelihood in a refined atmosphere. By the end of the year, the number increased to 27 and they were accommodated in one of the class rooms of the school. The Lace School received a monthly grant of Rs. 60/-. In the Chutiya mela the Convent received a special prize for its lace-work. After marriage the girls were admitted to the Lace School. The needle work of the Lace School earned a great name in the exhibition at Calcutta and Nagpur. The British officials and visitors were in admiration at the fine quality of the hand work of these simple tribal women. Gradually it became difficult to find market for the manufactured articles. sisters depended entirely on local patrons and friends abroad. High custom duties prevented remunerative exportation. China and Japan became harmful competitors. From 1910 onwards, Mother Angela devoted herself heart and soul to the workers. The Indian Sisters Lucy Ekka, Michaael Tirkey, sophia Dungdung, Martine Tigga, Nirmala Minj, Ancilla Tirkey, Pushpica Tigga, Juliana Toppo, Flora Beck, Veronica Surin have had their great share in keeping up this beautiful ministry alive with the simple local women and girls. The name of Sister Barbara Vercammen, with her contribution as a zealous, vigorous social worker can't be forgotten. She came in touch with the National Training Programme for the Young Catholic Workers in India and had the first gathering of this social organization on September 1, 1961 in the Workroom. On May 20, 1962, a little kernel of 16 leaders was formed and found fit for a first affiliation. In the presence of His Grace, Msgr. Pius Kerketta S.J., and the Parish Priest of Ranchi, these 16 young ladies made their promise and received their badges. Soon the young girls of Doranda, Hindipiri and other villages were influenced by this group. On August 12, the first general meeting of these leaders and aspirants to join the Y.C.w. took place in the Workroom. The Ranchi Y.C.W. unit started its apostolate with the domestic workers. It was in the mid sixties many of the young tribal girls were taken by agents as domestic workers to big cities. To prevent the migration of these young girls, Sister Barbara tried to keep in touch with good families of Ranchi, where these girls could be safe and earn their living. She organized a group of these domestic workers and the daily wage earners living in huts, holding meetings with them, following them up in their work places and homes. She had a small simple boarding house arranged for them in the Convent campus where they could lodge. They had their monthly get together with Y.C.W.
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